Tainted Love for Mr and Mrs Brightside
by tado
Summary: Literati. Season 3. Ch 3 now up. Rory and Jess are getting Jealous. Hey, but why stop being miserable now?
1. Glad to hear you're back!

Disclaimer: I own stuff, but I don't own the rights to anything.

A/N: I got this Idea when I bought the new Killers CD! It is so awesome. This song reminded me of Jess so much! This should be a songfic but not every chap. Will have a song. Probably not a one-parter. Must have feedback to continue! Good or bad. The truth shall set u free(from what I am not so sure…)

Chapter 1: Untitled 

Coming out of my cage  
And I've been doing just fine  
Gotta gotta be down  
Because I want it all

She ran from him. She ran incredibly fast for someone with her level of athleticism.

Not so much as a 'No one can know' did she bother to say.

She just ran.

She ran all the way to Washington.

And she hadn't even bothered to call.

Did he do something wrong?

Was he supposed to go after her?

Was he truly supposed to forget about it?

Did she regret it?

He sure didn't.

He'd never felt that way before their kiss.

In all his experience, the innocent small town girl, whom had no experience whatsoever, was the one to make him feel that way.

Did that make her _the_ one?

It started out with a kiss  
How did it end up like this?  
It was only a kiss  
It was only a kiss

He decided to play it cool.

If they were going to keep it a secret, he'd have to move on. Otherwise, people would become suspicious of the fact that the only "experienced" person in the town wasn't putting his experience to use.

So he walked through the town, checking out all the teen hot spots, and he searched for the bimboiest-bimbo he could find.

Her name was Shawna, and she had a very noticeable thing for him.

(A/N: I have decided that he is going to do the whole flavor of the week thing. All of their names will begin with the letter S, and they will all lead up to Shane, even though I won't put the summer in this story. I just want that to be the way it is…)

_**Scene switch**_

(Setting: Rory is back from Washington. The town is having their end-of-summer festival. All, even this portion of the song, Rory's POV.)

Rory walked alongside her mother through the town square where the festival was taking place. She stopped dead in her tracks when the next sight she saw worked it's way through her nerves, to her brain.

"Oh."

Now I'm falling asleep  
And she's calling a cab  
While he's having a smoke  
And she's taking a drag

Now they're going to bed  
And my stomach is sick  
And its all in my head  
But she's touching his chest now

He takes off her dress now  
Let me go

And I just can't look its killing me  
And taking control

"Was that an 'oh how stupid of me, I forgot to do something' oh, or an 'oh, I just saw something very upsetting in a sardonic kind of way and now I want to crawl up in bed and read,' kind of oh?"

"Oh, mom, it's nothing really. I just think it's a little rude for Jess to be making such a public display of his affection…"

But, of course, she was lying. Her oh was of the latter explanation by Lorelai. She wanted to melt into the pavement and go back to Washington. Washington was far away from Jess and his afore mentioned person of affectionate interest.

She stared at them.

She didn't really care who saw she was starring.

She couldn't help her eyes.

She was hurt.

She also forgot that, oh yeah, Dean was still a factor.

She didn't feel like she was cheating on Dean.

She felt like Jess was cheating on _her_.

And that was not the happiest of all feelings.

Not at all.

_**Scene switch**_

(Setting: Dean is back. Three days after the festival in the town square. Pretty much Rory'sPOV. Song in Jess's and Rory's POV, cause it applies to both of them.)

Ring ring.

Lorelai picked up the phone, talked, listened, and then replaced the phone to its normal spot in between the couch cushions.

"Rory!" She yelled to the sky, even though Rory was on the same level as her.

"What mom!"

"Dean's back, he said he'll be over in like 5 minutes. That okay?"

"Yeah."

She sighed and finished typing up her last sentence.

"Phew. At least I have one paper done…"

She was, though not to her full potential, glad that she could now see Dean again.

'I'm sure I'm only hung up on Jess because I haven't seen Dean in awhile,' she thought to herself.

But she was lying.

She'd had a tendency to lie about her feelings lately. But she was afraid of everything.

If she had to lie to stay safe and unscathed, then lie she would.

Even lie to herself.

(5 minutes later, just as Dean had said.)

"Dean," Lorelai greeted the tall boy who stood before her.

"Come on in," she continued, "Rory will be out in just a sec."

Dean came in, and, as promised, she stepped out of her room to great her boyfriend.

Her boyfriend, whom was Dean, whom was not the last contemporary male she swapped spit with.

(Yet another 5 minutes later.)

"I am so happy you're back Dean," she gushed as they walked through the town square.

"You, too. I've missed you so much."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

They kissed for awhile, alternating between walking and the afore mentioned activity, until they reached the gazebo.

They were too busy to notice the people who were already occupying the gazebo.

Jess was a bit taken aback at first, but then regained his composure.

"Care to watch it there, bag boy."

They jumped apart and Rory glared while being pulled closer to Dean.

Jess mimicked this and pulled Shane closer to himself.

Jess and Dean were warring to the death.

"I'll go where ever I feel like going. If that means joining you two here on the gazebo, then I will."

"No, Dean, let's just go," Rory pleaded.

"You heard her," Jess added.

"Whatever."

And so, Dean led Rory far away from the gazebo and they continued their walk.

But, before they got to far away, Rory looked back at them. And for one brief moment, she wondered just what it would be like to spend a day in Shane's shoes. She looked away just as Jess looked to her reforming body.

_Jealousy turning saints into the sea  
Swimming through sick lullaby  
Choking on your alibis  
But its just the price I pay  
Destiny is calling me  
Open up my eager eyes  
'Cos I'm Mr Brightside_

Screw their tainted love.


	2. Constitution State

**Disclaimer**: There once lived very nice, very witty, very Jewish girl named Amy in the far away land known as Hollywood. She was, again I say, very witty, and very creative, so she decided to make a show that matches her personality, sans the Judaism, though. My name is not Amy, and I am not associated with her in any way, other than the realism that I love her show.

**A/N**: I am happy with this story, and I will try not to ruin it like I ruined my first story. When I wrote my first story, I was incredibly naïve, and my writing skills sucked. I have since then improved, and although I'm no Tiger Woods of this fanfic world, I hope to one day at least be the Phil Mickelson (who can sometimes be better than Tiger, lol). : ) Happiness shall ensue.

Oh, and by the way, don't read my first story, it sucks, and although it might make you hate Dean, it is dumb and I apologize if I made anyone hate this website with my stupidity.

Chapter 2: Constitution State 

"Mom!"

"What!"  
"Where did you put the phone?"

"I put it back between the cushions!"

"Okay! Thank you!"

"Sure thing!"

Rory ran to the couch as quickly as her feet would permit her to, and searched the cracks between the cushions. No luck whatsoever decided to grace the presence of Miss Gilmore today.

"It's not there mom!"

"Have you checked my hand," she shot back as she made her way down the stairs.

"Dirty…"

"Yes, and I am so hoping that you do the same when you have a daughter of your own."

"What if I have a son, or what happens if I become a nun?"

"A- I will disown you if you have a son, and B- if you become a nun, I will be happy for you will never take part in any sexual activity, keeping you my little girl for all eternity. Besides, we're not religious anyways, so the whole nun thing probably won't happen."

"Well…"

"What?"

"The phone…"

"Oh," she handed the phone to her daughter, "there, you happy now?"

"Very."

Rory turned to enter her room, but was stopped by the words of Lorelai, "Whoa there, missy. And might I ask whom you so desperately need to call?"

"Um," she tried to think of something as convincing as she could in the time allotted to her, "Lane."

"Why…"

"Uh, she, uh said I needed to call her, so, I am."

"Okay," was Lorelai's reply of disbelief. If her daughter wouldn't give her a straight answer now, the topic must be sore. Lorelai'd just have to be patient for the answer to come.

Rory backed into her room, silently thanking her mom for not pressing the issue, and hastily dialed the number she knew all too well.

"_Hello,"_ came the monotone voice.

"Hey, Jess."

"_Rory?"_

"That's me."  
_"What are you doing calling me? Bag boy get a little too dull for your liking?"_

"Jess, don't do that."

"Do what? State the obvious? I'll make a mental note not to."

"Jess…"

"You know what, you're the one who called me so don't act like I'm doing something wrong."

"You're right. I am the one who called you, and I am going to be the one who hangs up."

And just as she said she would, she hung up the phone.

They both sat in silence on their respective beds thinking what the hell had just happened.

Scene Switch 

(Setting: Later on that night, Rory is laying in bed, and she is half asleep.)

There was a tap on her window.

She looked up, startled.

She stood to check the tapping.

What she found had yet again been startling.

"Can I come in," was heard from the other side of the window.

"Oh, um, sure." She stood aside to let him in.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say.

"For what?"

"I was a jackass on the phone earlier and I figured if you had something to say you should say it now 'cos this is probably the only apology anyone's ever getting out of me."

She was shocked by his honesty and overwhelmed with how sincere her was, even. She had no control over herself; she had lost all thought.

So she hugged him, and with little hesitation, he hugged her back.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome."

"You should probably go now," she said letting go.

"Probably."

Neither of them moved.

"Okay, right now, I will take 3 steps back, and you will do the same."

He nodded in agreement and they did as they were supposed to do.

"Now, you will climb through the window and walk away from this house quietly.

Again he nodded and began to climb through the window.

"Oh," she began before he could make it all the way through the window, "and, Jess."

"Yeah?"

"About the phone call."

"Yeah?"

"Forget about it."  
Once more he nodded and within a few seconds he was out of sight.

She fell asleep the moment she hit the bed.

Scene Switch 

(Setting: "Town Hall" for the town meeting.)

"All in favor, say 'I'."

"I," came the majority of towns people.

"Good, so on to our next matter. The 24-hour dance marathon," Taylor continued.

"Yes," Lorelai whispered to Rory, "this year I'm going to kick Kirk's ass!"

"Aw, mom, don't be so mean," Rory whispered back to Lorelai, "this marathon is all Kirk has. If we take that from him, he'll have nothing."

"Yes, but that makes it all the more fun."

"You are so mean."

"Yes, yes I am."

"Now," Taylor continued, "this year the marathon will take place outside. Any objections?"

"What if it rains, or snows, or hails?"

"I am very glad you asked, Kirk. We are going to have a tent set up. Any more inquiries?"

No one spoke.

"Good…now as you'll see, I have set up an array of clip boards, and anyone who would like to offer their services to the great task we have ahead of us, please stand and sign the appropriate board."

A large group of people stood to do as they were told to.

"And as for those of you who choose to dance, that clip board is at the back of the studio. The pairings are not final yet, so don't worry if you're not paired up yet."

Most of the remaining people stood and headed to the back of the room.

"If anyone changes their mind, they can come by the studio some other time and sign up. Meeting adjourned."

Everyone signed their papers and left, everyone but Lorelai and Luke.

"Hey Luke, don't go yet."

Lorelai walked over to him and began to unveil her plan in an instant.

"I need you to do me a HUGE favor."

"What."

"Can you put poison in Kirk's coffee at the marathon?"

"What? No way! I'm not breaking the U.S. constitution so you can win some damn trophy."

"Oh, come on. Putting poison in people's coffee is SO not against the Constitution, seeing as we're in the Constitution State! And even so, you could like, oh, I don't know, switch his coffee to the evil liquid so he won't stay awake."

"What evil liquid?"

"I can't say it's name, but I'll give you a clue: it shows a resemblance to real coffee, but it bears no caffeine."

"You mean decaff?"

"Gasp, you just said the unmentionable word, now go wash your mouth out with soap."

"What? No. I'm not washing my mouth out with soap!"

"We'll see about that."

Scene Switch 

Setting: Undisclosed

"Jesus Christ, Lorelai! What the crap is your problem? It's one word! Can't I say one God-damned word?"

"Yes, but not the unmentionable word."

"Well you didn't have to stick a freaking bar of soap down my throat!"

"At least I know you'll never say it again."

"We'll see."

"Yes we will. Now go home and think about what you have just learned."

Luke left and Rory jumped out of the closet barely able to stop her self from falling on the floor laughing.

Lorelai mimicked her daughter's actions.

"I can't believe you put soap in his mouth!"

"He said the unmentionable word."

"You don't mean the evil liquid's name, do you."

"I do."

"That's horrible!"

"I know! And he said it right in my face, like it'd have no effect on me!"

"Oh, you poor thing!"

"Hey, but now I have a way of threatening him to change Kirk's coffee to the evil liquid," she grinned evilly.

"Evil person. How would you feel if Luke switched your coffee to the evil liquid?"

"I'd feel betrayed."

"Do you want Kirk to feel betrayed?"

"Like, duh!"

"Uggh! You're impossible!"

"Just like the Tom Cruise movie."

"Exactly!"

"Hey you wanna watch some movies?"

"Sure."

**A/N:** I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that a lot of stuff happens from the time Rory comes home to the time the dance marathon happens and I would like to say that all that stuff will probably happen while we wait for the marathon to take place.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you are still my friend, **you will review! Otherwise, I will make you drink the evil liquid!** I love myself


	3. Pathetic

Disclaimer: My life has not since ch. 2 changed.

A/N: I got nutin' to say…

Chapter 3: Pathetic 

"Ground control to Major Tom!"

"What? Why are you making David Bowie references all of the sudden?"

"Um, look and see, young child."

Rory walked over to the window where her mother was having a panic attack and realized why.

"Oh no."

"Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say."

"Oh no. We have a new neighbor. He looks very…"

"At a loss for words?"

"Uh huh…"

"Same reaction. Oh, and guess what."

"What?"

"He's going out of town."  
"That's a good thing…why are you making it sound like it's not a good thing? Make it sound like a good thing!"

"Okay! Okay already. Well, he's going out of town…and he is very picky about his lawn…and I couldn't get out of it, I mean if I could I would have. But the grass and the water…"

"What? You make no sense woman."

"We're in charge of watering his lawn for the next week."

"We, or me."

"Well…"

"Mom! How could you?"  
"Well, technically, I can handle it for 6 days, but I have a meeting on Friday, and he has a very, very strict watering schedule, and he just got divorced, so this lawn is all he has."

"Since when have you cared about other peoples feelings?"

"I asked myself the same question…"

Pause. Silence.

"I need coffee," Lorelai stated.

"Me too."

"And we're off to Luke's."

"The crowd goes wild."

"Loser buys the winner coffee?"

"You're on."

And so the girls raced out of the house.

Lorelai won, being the more coffee driven of the two.

"Ha! Now go get me my coffee."

"Hey! I am supposed to pay, not order," Rory pointed out.

"Yes, but I am the mother, without me, you would be nonexistent, therefore, you must go order."

"And I was so looking forward to you and Luke arguing about your lifespan…"

"Hardy har-har."

However, it was not Luke who greeted her at the counter, but Jess.

"Oh, hey Jess."

"Rory."

"Um, can I have two coffees?"

Without reply, he reached for the two largest coffee cups and filled them to the top.

"Thanks."

"I work here."

"I see that," she said as she turned and walked over to her now "caffeine deprived"(yeah right, like that's possible) mother.

"Evil child. You have deprived me of my caffeine fix. Now I must sell you to the gypsies and use the money to buy a speedier child who is in less need of caffeine than you so I get more."

"I didn't raise me."

"And for that you should thank me."

"Thank you."

"Aw, you shouldn't have…no, you should have."

"There's the Lorelai I know."

"Be happy I'm not Emily Gilmore."

"All happiness shall ensue."

"Much rejoicing everywhere."

"Let's go sing Partridge Family Songs."

"_Come on get happy."_

"You know I was kidding, right?"

"Yeah, just kind of going with the flow there. Got a little lost in thought…"

"Understood."

"We are really pathetic, aren't we?"

"Yep."

"Just checking."

Luke and Jess observed the scene from the counter thinking about how unbelievably fanatical those Gilmore girls really were.

They were both in love, but too egotistic to realize it.

Well, with a family name like Danes or Mariano, what more could you expect.

Were talking about Jess, the boy Pride wonder and Lucas Danes, who Ripley, believe it or not folks, dubbed the world's most stubborn man.


	4. Turn off that Sprinkler!

Disclaimer: My life doesn't make major changes on a daily basis. Say no to drugs and you'll be the same!

A/N: Thank you all for loving this story! This is the favorite of my own ideas by other people and by myself. An actual plot line will unravel in the next few chapters, but for now, I am building some highly important background.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 4: Turn off that Sprinkler!**

Friday.

'Tis the day on which Rory Gilmore and her overly eccentric mother attend their weekly dinners at the house of the afore mentioned mother's parents.

This week's random event: Making sure their new neighbor's sprinkler system turns on and off at the appropriated times.

Difficulty: Harder than expected.

Required strength: More than that of Rory Gilmore.

"Come on, stupid sprinkler system. Shut off like you're supposed to so I don't make some weird guy cry, or worse, make my mother make me cry."

When she came to the conclusion that she wouldn't be able to make the sprinklers turn 'off', she paged Dean Forrester, her extremely loyal boyfriend, to come help her.

She couldn't wait for him to get the message, though, and she set off on foot to find him.

A wise man once said, "Timing is everything."

That man was a very wise one indeed.

"Oh, sorry Jess," she mumbled before she kept on keeping on.

He wouldn't let her get by him, though.

"What's the matter?"

"Sprinkler system doesn't work…got to go get Dean," was her out-of-breath reply.

He didn't care.

He is, after all, Jess, the boy pride wonder.

So being the superhero he has so often proven to be, he walked past her, to fix the sprinkler system, of course.

"Where are you going," she asked switching directions to follow him.

"Fixing a sprinkler system."

"But I just paged Dean."

"Lovely."

"And he's on his way…"

"I'll have it fixed before he gets here."

"You're impossible!"

"Your point being…"

He now had the sprinkler fixed, though, it really didn't matter, seeing as they were both soaking wet.

"You really didn't have to do that, Jess. I mean now you're all wet and you didn't have to be. So…um…thank you."

She pulled him in to an awkward and extremely wet hug, which, unfortunately, didn't go unnoticed by Dean.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Dean said harshly.

They jumped apart.

"Dean! Hi. What are you doing here so early? I didn't think you had received my message, yet."

He ignored what she said and directed his attention towards Jess, "Stay away from her."

"Feeling a little possessive, are we, Dean?"

"Stay away from her!"

"Make me."

"Jess, I'm warning you, stay away from her."

"Stop it you two!" Rory began, "Jess, thank you for fixing the sprinklers, now it's time for you to go home. As for you, Dean, nothing happened between us just now! I don't see why you get so worked up about this all the time. Jess and I are friends. You wouldn't act like this around Lane, and Lane's my friend."

"Lane's a girl."

"What do you think I did, Dean? He fixed the sprinklers and I hugged him because I was going to be in huge trouble if the sprinklers didn't get fixed on time! It's not like I had sex on the next-door neighbor's front lawn in broad daylight with God knows how many people watching, with a guy, by the way, I am not the LEAST bit attracted to!"

She stormed off, Dean on her tail.

"Rory! Rory, don't do this! Look I'm really sorry!"

And of course, many members of the town's gossip chain were watching this scene unravel before them.

"Dear, God, Patty! You think they're going to break up?" questioned Babette.

" Probably not today, but I'd keep a close watch if I were you. We wouldn't want to miss the biggest break-up in Stars Hallow history."

A/N: I hoped you liked this very short chapter.

Next Chapter:

The Dance Marathon!


	5. I'm dancing on the inside

Disclaimer: This is my final disclaimer 'cos I'm tired of writing them. I will never own the rights to anything, and if, for some reason that changes, I'll let you know. Trust me.

A/N: I feel really good about this chapter. This is most definitely will be a Dean lovers beware chapter. I think you know where I'm going with this. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I hope you like this chapter. Also, I am experimenting with my writing style, so please review and tell me how you like the style of this chapter. If it is truly terrible, I will rewrite the chapter. If not, I might change my style. Tell me your opinion.

Oh yeah, in part of this story, I have an entire scene borrowed from the show, THEY SHOOT GILMORES, DON'T THEY? I only added it in because it makes me laugh and I needed to add in a scene to take the marathon from beginning to end. As Lorelai said, " I want a middle."

**Chapter 5: I'm dancing on the inside**

_Something just isn't right  
I can feel it inside  
the truth isn't far behind me  
you can't deny_

_  
When I turn the lights out  
When I close my eyes  
Reality overcomes me  
I'm living a lie  
_

_When I'm alone I  
Feel so much better  
And when I'm around you  
I don't feel_

Together  
It doesn't feel right at all  
Together   
Together we built a wall  
Together  
Holding hands we'll fall  
Hands we'll fall

This has gone on so long  
I realize that I need  
Something good to rely on  
Something for me

When I'm alone I  
Feel so much better  
And when I'm around you  
I don't feel

When I'm around you  
When I'm around you  
I don't feel together

_I don't feel together_

(Selected lyrics form 'Together', by Avril Lavigne)

The air was thick. Her breath was heavy as she listened to him complaining.

It seemed as though all he ever did was complain and restrict.

_You can't do _this _because it makes me do _this.

Perfect example.

She couldn't stand his constant need for control.

She felt trapped.

What was once pure bliss by her own free will had become forced torture.

She was drowning, and no matter how hard she would try to swim towards the sky, she couldn't resurface.

"I don't want you seeing him anymore," he mumbled.

"What do you mean?" She had no clue why he was being so possessive.

"I mean that he likes you, Rory, and he's trying to get into your pants."

"How can you say that? You don't even know him!"

"No, Rory, I don't. But that doesn't mean you do. Guys like him are,"

"Guys like him are what? Guys aren't like him, Dean; they don't skip school to read or go to work. Guys like 'him'," she finger quoted, "Guys like him don't prefer to be alone because everyone else treats him like crap."

"Guys like _him_ are cold hearted jerks. He's only nice to you because he wants to get you in bed. He doesn't care about you Rory. He doesn't."

"He does! He does. He _does_…" She didn't know whom she was trying to convince. She used to be so sure, but now that Dean had made her think about it, she needed some convincing herself.

"No, Rory, he doesn't."

"He doesn't?" She questioned, tears stinging in her eyes.

"No, he doesn't."

"Oh Dean!" She exclaimed, clinging to him.

Dean had convinced her.

She was afraid, but she didn't know why.

She didn't feel safe, even in the arms of her boyfriend.

Something seemed so wrong.

She needed the truth, and Jess's mystery, not to mention the extremely possessive nature of Dean, weren't helping.

Next day…

"So what's on your mind?" Rory asked her mother suspiciously as they headed into the kitchen.

"I think I figured out who can be my partner for the dance marathon."

"Great! Who?"

Lorelai said nothing, but instead stared intensely at Rory.

"Oh, no you're not, no."

"Come on!"

"Just hear me out! First of all, you love me."

"Not right now, I don't."

"You know how much this contest means to me. You would never fall asleep or chase a pie."

"I don't dance."

"You went to a dance."

"I do not dance."

"Liar."

"Come on! We've got the whole mother/daughter gimmick going on. The crowd'll eat that up."

"I cannot dance with you."

"Why not?"

"Because this is Dean's first marathon. We were going to go and watch and hang out, he's totally looking forward to it. I told him about how Andrew gets in a fight with his date in the first fifteen minutes and storms off the floor. I told him about Taylor getting punch-drunk at hour fifteen and telling stories about how he always wanted to be a magician."

"Rory, please?"

"And ooh, I told him about how when Kirk wins, he likes to take his victory lap around the floor to the theme from Rocky. I was gonna show him all those things, and I was gonna show them to him sitting down."

"He can still come, and he can still see all those things, except if you dance, maybe that victory lap will be you and me instead of Kirk."

"Okay, I'll tell you what. I was supposed to work on the Franklin this weekend with Paris."

"But?"

"I will ask her if we can reschedule. If she says yes, then I will dance with you."

"I love you!"

"You should sell cars."

Next Saturday…

"I hate waking up early," Lorelai whined as they walked to Luke's.

"You're the one who insisted we get up earlier so we could get coffee from Luke."

"Yeah, well, at least it won't feel like 5am when we get our coffee."

"How do you know?"

"I don't," she stated.

"There's the reassurance I needed."

The bell jingled merrily overhead, completely contradicting the girls' moods.

"Coffee…Luke…now…" was the last thing Lorelai was capable of saying till she got her daily dose.

Without a word, knowing that he would be dead otherwise, he gave them both large portions of the strongest stuff he had.

The girls immediately perked up.

"So Luke, where's mini-you."

"Sleeping," he grunted in reply.

"No, really?"

"Just drink your damn coffee and leave."

"Look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"I didn't wake up on the wrong side of the bed."

"Uh huh."

"Jesus Christ, Lorelai, take your damn coffee thermos and get out," he said quietly handing her a big thermos of coffee.

"Thank you Luke-y. Come on, Rory, we've got a marathon to win. Oh, and Luke, remember what I said about switching the coffee to the evil liquid." She winked and proceeded to leave the diner, daughter in one hand, and coffee in the other.

14 hours later…

He wasn't hungry.

Well, sort of, but not in the 'I need to eat food' kind of way.

Since when did that stop Jess Mariano?

"So, not dancing?" Jess asked Lane as he approached the sandwich table.

"Nope."

"Why not? Too cool?"

"Go away, Jess. No one asked for a Tony Manero wannabe to drop by."

"Hey, I'm just here for the food."

Land handed him a sandwich.

"Here, enjoy, buh-bye."

He paused to take the sandwich, but then continued the unwanted conversation, "I noticed Rory's not dancing with Dean."

"Nothing gets past you, does it?"

"How come? Trouble in paradise?"

"Rory's dancing with her mother. Nothing's wrong with her and Dean, and you're blocking my sandwiches from the rest of the room."

"I know, they're erecting a statue to me in the park next week."

In came Mrs. Kim, annoyance on her sleeve.

"Who are you," she requested of Jess.

"Jess…Ma'am."

She directed her speech to Lane, "Scoop more," and then she walked away.

But Jess and Lane couldn't be left alone could they.

This time, Rory and Dean made their ways to the table.

Rory looked at Jess and asked him, "The sandwiches are for the dancers."

"I'm dancing on the inside," he replied.

"What are you doing here?"  
"I live here."

"You have nothing better to do than sit outside on a bench all day staring at a dance marathon?"

"I don't know," he turned to face Dean, "Do you have nothing better to do than sitting outside on a bench all day staring at a dance marathon?"

Dean spoke up. "I wouldn't direct any sort of comment toward me if I were you."

"I'm just trying to support my town."

"Good," Rory added, "then go back to New York."

"Ooh. Zing. I've been snapped."

"You think you're bugging me, sitting in front of me staring like that?"

"You think you're bugging me, dancing in front of me staring like that?"

"I'm not staring at you."

"Then how do you know I'm staring at you?"

"I am dancing. I cannot control where my glance goes. And the few moments I can control it, my glance goes to Dean. Not you."

"So you can't control when you look at me, but you have to force yourself to look at him? Sorry, man. That's cold."

"My former comment still stands," Dean reminded Jess.

"Go home," Rory said.

"No, thanks," he bounced back.

"Then get out of my way," Rory said, trying to mimic his nonchalant tone.

"Didn't realize I was in the way. There you go. It's all yours. God help you."

And if things couldn't get anymore frenzied between them, Shane waltzed in to the studio.

"Where did you go? I've been sitting out there for twenty minutes."

"The break's only for ten."

"It's just a saying."

"I came to get food."

"Good I'm starved."

"The food is for the dancers," Rory told Shane.

"Who are you, Bobby Brady? Get a life."

"Rory is feeling a little territorial today," Jess pointed out.

"Whatever," Shane took a bite of her sandwich and was immediately disgusted, " God. What is this thing?"

"Rory. Get your stuff and let's go," Dean ordered.

"Ooh," Jess began, "that was good. Now say 'then get in there and make me my supper.'"

"I got 'em," Rory said to Dean.

"Come on," Dean replied.

"See you in there," Jess shouted to their retreating bodies.

When they were gone, Jess said to Shane, "I'm gonna get a soda."

9 hours later…

Only 2 couples remained on the dance floor.

Taylor is highly intoxicated and is standing at the podium reminiscing about his magician days.

"Tell me a joke."

"Knock knock."

"Ooh. That was a good one," she paused and laughed a bit, "Kirk is going down," Lorelai whispered into Rory's ear.

"Mhm…"

"Any second now he's going to collapse. I can tell."

As if on cue, Kirk waltzed past them with as much energy as he started with.

Rory closed her eyes.

"Rory," Lorelai whisper-screamed, "Rory wake up!"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, Mom. I'm just tired."

"No kidding."

They stood there 'dancing for a few moments, till all of the sudden, Lorelai's heel broke.

"Ahhhh!"

"What," Rory asked her mother, slightly more alert than she had been a few moments ago.

"My heel broke!"

"Your what?"

"My heel."

"Well…what do we do?"

"I've got to go ask Luke to fix it. You've got to stay here while use the card and get my heel fixed."

"But, I need something to lean on, I can't just stand here. I'll collapse!"

"Um…" she searched the perimeter for and idea. It came in a 6'4" shell and was extremely loyal, "Dean!"

He rushed over like a little puppy dog.

"What?"

"Can you keep Rory from passing out while I get my heel fixed?"

"Uh…"

"Thanks Dean. You're the best."

"But I,"

"I need you. The team needs you."

"What team?"

"Pick a team-it needs you. I'll be right back."

Lorelai left to go find Luke.

Meanwhile…

Lane sat alone in the studio.

She knew she didn't need to be there.

Everyone had had his or her share of sandwiches.

But then again…

"One sandwich please," beamed Dave Rygalski.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, you mentioned it to me last time we met and it sounded kind of Blue Velvet, so I decided to come check it out. Anyhow, I hadn't seen you in awhile, and I thought I'd come down and maybe we could figure something out on this band issue. Plus I missed you."

"Sure, we could do that."

Mrs. Kim was, as always, on anti-Korean-boy alert and so she made her way over to the table.

"Who are you, what do you want?"

"Mama," Lane warned.

"Do you know this boy?"

"Well,"

"Uh, no, actually, I just heard a bunch of people talking outside about the sandwiches and I thought that I would come in and maybe try one. I'm sorry, may I? Mrs. Kim hands him a sandwich Thank you. takes a bite That's delicious."

"Really?" Lane wondered out loud.

"May I have another one for later please?"

"Yes, that's fine, take another one please," Mrs. Kim agreed.

"Thank you. You know, my parents would love these sandwiches. I wish I could bring 'em by but unfortunately they're in private bible study right now."

"Bible Study?"

"Say, how long are you serving?"

"Why?"

"Well, I thought if they got out in time I could bring them over to try these delicious sandwiches."

"Well, the bread is only good for another twenty minutes, after that there's no point. You chip a tooth."

"Okay. So if I can get my parents back here in twenty minutes, then you'll still be serving, but in thirty you're done?"

"That's right."

"Great. So if for some reason I'm not back here in twenty minutes, that means that I'm gonna be over there, on the church steps, waiting for my parents to get out so that I can tell them about the great sandwiches that they missed. Okay? Okay, great. Thanks a lot and I hope to see you soon."

He left and Mrs. Kim turned to Lane.  
"I hope he comes back he seemed hungry."

Meanwhile…

"He's still there."

"What?"

"Jess. He's still there. I can't believe he's still there."

"Ignore him and he'll disappear."

"Yeah. You know, this is a dance marathon. You're not supposed to come and sit and watch, you're supposed to dance. He's just trying to bug me, sitting there right in front of me, staring. Jerk."

Sitting on a bench in front of Rory and Dean were Jess and Shane.

Shane turned to Jess and said, "I'm bored."

"Okay."

So of course they start to make out.

"There they go again! God, I swear, why can't they just get a room? Or forget a room - get a gym bleacher or a doorway, or even a strategically placed telephone pole would probably suffice. I mean, girls like Shane - what is it with them? Don't they see what they look like? I know they have mirrors."

But Rory wasn't jealous was she? I mean, come on. She's obviously not Rory. She's a jealous pod person!

"Hey, you talking about me," Jess directed towards Rory.

"No."

"I heard you mention Shane."

"Shane's not you."

"Shane concerns me."

"Shane concerns me too-and all women for that matter."

"You got a problem here?"

"Nope. Just a little sick of seeing the two of you sitting there. If you're not gonna participate, then why don't you just leave?"

"Works for me," Shane began, "Let's go."

"No," Jess ordered.

"Why not?" Rory was curious as to why they wouldn't just leave.

"Because I'm not ready to go."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. I'm gonna sit here as long as I like, and I'm gonna do whatever I like, and if you don't like it, then just ignore me and pay attention to your boyfriend."

"Sorry, she can't. I'm not her boyfriend anymore," Dean cut in.

"What?"

"You know, I tried to ignore this, I really did. But I don't know what the hell I was thinking."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't wanna be with me, Rory."

"Yes, I do."

"Oh, please! You've been into him since he got to town, and I have spent weeks - months, actually - trying to convince myself that it wasn't true, that everything was fine between us. But now I know that I was an idiot. You're into him and he's into you, and Shane, who by the way, should be listening to this 'cause it's so damn obvious."

"What's obvious, what did I do?"

"Everyone can see, Rory! Everyone. And I'm tired, but I'm over it, so go ahead, go. Be together. There's nothing standing in your way now, 'cause I'm out."

She felt the tears in her eyes. They were tears of sadness, no less than tears of guilt.

He was right.

She did have a 'thing' for Jess from the moment he came to town.

Dean grabbed his jacket and Rory stared after him as he walked home beneath the clear night sky.

Later on at the bridge…

_We are the Champions, my friend._

_We'll keep on fighting, till the end._

'_Cos we are the champions, _

_we are the champions,_

_no time for losers_

'_cos we are the champions…of the World._

This year, Kirk had picked a different song.

He felt less like Rocky and more like a Queen.

After all, the Queen has a bunch of dancing trophies, duh!

She sat on the bridge, in the middle as always, listening to the music play in the background.

She didn't notice the dark-haired boy walk up to her.

"Dean's a jerk. Yelling at you like that, breaking up in front of everybody…the guy's a total jerk."

"No, he's not. He's right. Everything he said. All those things about you and me, all those things about me lying to him, and messing with his head. He was right. Well, wasn't he? Fine, he was right about me, then. Now go away."

"He was right…about all of it."

"So what now?"

"You're definitely broken up with Dean?"

"I'm definitely broken up with Dean."

He held out his hand to her.

"Take it."

"What?"

"Take my hand."

She hesitated a bit, but then did as she was told.

"I'm only going to do this once."

And they danced.

_Cos we are the champions, _

_we are the champions,_

_no time for losers_

'_cos we are the champions…_

Now was the perfect chance. He took her chin in his hand and tilted her head slightly upwards so she would look him in the eye.

He kissed her.

She kissed back.

And they kept on dancing.

_of the World._

End chapter.

A/N: I am so sorry that this was so unoriginal. The only thing I wanted to change in this episode when I watched it was the end, and there would be no music playing if they weren't outside, and they can't dance to the Rocky theme song. That'd be really weird.

I would've made this original, but I had no reason to change the stuff I didn't want to change, and I couldn't have gone from the Dean/Rory fight to the Jess/Rory kiss/dance. So… I hope you liked my chapter. Now I've got to go unapologetically bastardize other

Country's traditions. Bring on the Imperialistic condiments!


	6. At last!

Disclaimer: I refuse to carry on disowning!

A/N: I am so sad. No one has reviewed my last chappie. You made me depressed. You only had to write a single word. Last chapter was really important, too. AND I started accepting anonymous reviews! Evil people. Make me happy!

**Chapter 6: At last!**

"I'll walk you home," he whispered into her ear as the music stopped playing.

"Okay."

He wrapped an arm around her waist as she planted her head on his shoulder comfortably.

"You feeling better now?"

This wasn't the question she had expected him to ask.

Was that all he was doing?

Making her feel better?

Was he just cheering her up, or did he really like her?

"Rory?" He asked when she didn't respond.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I feel much better."

He turned her around to face him.

"Are you sure, because you don't sound like it?"

Why is he being so nice? This isn't Jess.

"I'm sure." They resumed their previous position and kept walking.

"Why are you being so nice, Jess?" She asked out of nowhere.

"I like you, Rory."

"Like how?"

"You want to go out sometime."

Answering questions with questions. This was her way of telling Jess was being sincere. Instead of answering directly, he asks a question that implies he's not in the mood to talk about it and would much rather do what he asks you to do.

Overcome with joy and unable to speak, she referred to Jess-ism and answered by kissing him squarely on the mouth.

"That's a yes," he asked when they pulled apart.

"That's a yes."

"Good."

He pulled him closer, and she closed her eyes, taking in his scent as they walked the remainder of the way.

"So…this is my stop," she broke the comfortable silence.

"That it is."

"Thank you."

"You say that a lot."

"Well, I have a lot to be thankful for."

"You do, do you."

"Yes I do."

They moved closer in together.

"Well, than, you don't have to tell me. You should show me how thankful you are."

"Maybe I'll do that."

This time their kiss was deeper and more meaningful. It had passion, like they did.

They were together at last.

They'd been waiting for a whole year.

Their kiss was different from anything either of them had ever experienced.

It was…perfect.

Rory thought her kiss on aisle 3 was perfect, but compared to this, it was dead and meaningless.

"Wow," she said as they pulled apart, "I'd say thank you, but I don't think I'm allowed."

They were about to 'thank' each other again, when Lorelai came storming towards them.

"There you are. I've been looking all over for you! I mean, Luke fixed my heel and I was like, 'what do you mean Kirk won? I'm using my card. By the way, where did Rory go?' and Babette was like, 'She ran out of here not to long ago.' I understand now and that's great and I'm not mad or anything, but next time you break up, ask your new boyfriend to walk you back to the dance marathon. Oh, and sorry Jess, but it's time for you to walk yourself home. I am forcing Rory to pine. No breaking up without pining. Next time, you will pine before you hook up with James Dean's clone."

"I'm gone," Jess stated as he walked away.

"Do I really have to pine? Can't I just cry myself to sleep? I'm too tired to pine."

"Well, we have been up for over 24 hours… so I guess I can settle for crying yourself to sleep. On one condition, though."

"What?"

"I get to sit in a chair and try to watch you sleep, even though I'll be asleep before you."

"As long as I don't have to do anymore pining, than deal."

And they did as they said they would.

End chapter.

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